Worth 1000 Photoshop contests are always worth looking at, but this one has some particularly funny entries. Check out the critics' blurbs on the M*A*S*H take-off posters.
I know this thread title is broad, but since we don't have a thread about good movie posters, I thought it could become that thread eventually.

Matt wrote:Worth 1000 Photoshop contests are always worth looking at, but this one has some particularly funny entries. Check out the critics' blurbs on the M*A*S*H take-off posters.
I know this thread title is broad, but since we don't have a thread about good movie posters, I thought it could become that thread eventually.

I don't know why, but the catchline for the Jurassic Park spoof poster is hysterical.

As far as movie posters go, for my money nothing beats vintage Polish posters (film, theatre, opera, etc.), which are works of art themselves. I've got these two hanging in my bedroom and this in the bath and I couldn't be prouder.

I love movie posters and would buy far more of them if I could display them better. And although I seem to be in the minority of cinephiles, by believeing that cinema is not dying and not even getting any worse, I do believe that film posters, since the 80s have become extremely poor. Partly because of the use of manipulated stills and partly because of the use of quotes and credits taking over the poster (something that seems to have affected British quads more than US one sheets).

I understand all the praise for Polish poster art, but for my tastes it's too abstract. I tend to like US one sheets but overall I like French 120x160 posters, for their impact (read size) and art. Guys like Mascii were fantastic and had a great distinct style that really did (more than) justice to the films. But then there came a point where the computer took over and posters stopped being about art, even about the films.

Which makes sense, because it could have come out of the 70s. It was great when posters actually made you want to see films. I'm sure it was the Mascii poster for Fitzcarraldo that made me want to see the film, either that or a Beat Presser photograph. Just go on ebay and browse the posters from the 40s to 70s and you'll be amazed at the amount of B-films they'll make you want to see.

True that movie posters since 1980s have become poor but Japan still surprises with really stunning, inspiring posters. Same thing with the posters of numerous "indie" films, like The Brown Bunny for instance.

Ah yes, I forgot how great Japanese chirashi can be and if you don't have much room, they're really useful. I did think the poster for The Brown Bunny was an exception, even among indie films though. I think Gallo consciously designed it after 70s posters like Two-Lane Blacktop (I'd love to have that one) although it's even more minimal. There are similar ones, like Gerry, but even the potential in that poster was ruined by quotes etc.

And I've got to agree on horror posters being in a league of their own (genre posters in general seem to be better). It looks like so much effort was put into them and this was for films that would often be on a double bill and in cinemas for a week or two.

For a more recent film, I really love the poster for Fincher's Zodiac with that very haunting shot of the Golden Gate bridge enshrouded in fog. It really creates a specific mood and look for this film.

Don't know if this has been posted before but Vintage Arte Superiore does very nice repros of vintage posters from the Silent Era and the Golden Age on high quality stock. The posters are available in several sizes framed and unframed.

They also have posters from theater and opera, as well as vintage advertising of all types. I've bought several over the years and they really look quite nice after matting and framing. They have an eBay store also, IIRC.

Am I the only one who likes their vintage posters to look really old and tattered? As if they've been hanging up somewhere for years? I refuse to use anything except drawing pins to put them up - I find it ludicrous to frame lurid old posters, like eating a microwave pizza off bone china.

I forgot that I also have this. I bought it for $40 on ebay some years ago.

Am I the only one who likes their vintage posters to look really old and tattered? As if they've been hanging up somewhere for years? I refuse to use anything except drawing pins to put them up - I find it ludicrous to frame lurid old posters, like eating a microwave pizza off bone china.

Are you saying that you'd pin the $250,000 Frankenstein poster or the $10,000 La Dolce Vita poster on the wall instead of framing/preserving it?

And I lean to the side of Narshty on the displaying of posters. I don't pin them, but I don't frame them either. I buy these plastic things that you can slide them into and hang them. Partly because it's a bit odd to treat them so reverently, after all they are advertisements (no I wouldn't do this to an expensive poster) and partly because I haven't been able to find anyone who's willing to frame a French 120x160. Even if I could, it'd cost more than the poster and I like to rotate what I have up.

And I'm certainly not anal about condition. I'd much prefer to have a poster that looks it's age than a pristine and inordinately expensive one. I have a great quad for Rogue Cop, which looks like it's a section from a large poster and has mud and stuff on it. And that's the poster people comment on, because it looks its age.

I'm not a huge fan of either of the films, but really like the posters!

Probably my most valued piece of art, ironic considering the discussion we were just having on him, is a pen and ink drawing of Christopher Lee in the same Dracula pose as on Mr Sausage's avatar done for me by a college friend studying art.

I enjoy a little age in my posters, but they are most definitely framed (the Children of Paradise quite decoratively so). I think it's the abstract Polish aesthetic that Cinetwist touched on, though. I chose these posters not only for their representation of works I love, but also because they are beautiful stand alone pieces.

And since no one else is going to jump on the Polish bandwagon, I'll have to come back after work and represent with a few more of my favorites (there's a Vertigo that rocks my world!)

What's most remarkable about the Polish posters is that they can take even the most mundane films, and boil them down to their thematic and philosophical elements. Take, for example, this poster for Weekend at Bernie's, or Trading Places. They are simply remarkable, even if the films they represent, are not.

Now that I think about it a bit more, it wasn't the US poster that was remarkably similar but an Australian one, which was all yellow, just with figures and an "adults only" or "rated x" tag or something like that. I've only seen it once on ebay and can't find a picture of it now. Looking at the Easy Rider posters again makes you realise that it's indebted to those as well. Gallo probably wanted to make THE American road movie in the vein of those. I think he did a good job.

Cinetwist, what do you think of this poster? Very minimal and 70s. Not a far cry from The Brown Bunny design, don't you think? Now I have to check out the Gallo film since you like it a lot and its poster really made me more curious. I hope it's as good as Buffalo '66 which I greatly admired.

Yeah, that poster looks pretty good. There were loads of great minimal, kinky posters like that in the 70s. Deep Throat and Emanuelle had good ones that were really simple.

I didn't think The Brown Bunny was as good as Buffalo '66, but it had a great aesthetic, almost as stripped down as the poster. I think you can tell that Gallo really loves America and the landscape, it's really rooted in that whole romantic idea of the road and the attention to detail is almost autistic. I understand why some (most?) people hate it but it just clicked for me.

And those posters that toiletduck linked are prime examples of why I think Polish design is amazing but far too removed from the films. And I can never quite comprehend the prices that Polish posters are valued (sold?) at.

Cinetwist wrote:And I can never quite comprehend the prices that Polish posters are valued (sold?) at.

Yeah, it's definitely three steps on the side of exorbitant, but I've found that if you order them directly from Poland (there's a couple of very user-friendly sites out there), you can easily save upwards of 50-75 percent. I bought my two Children posters for close to 90 percent less than what some of the higher-end American collector sites were selling them for, and they're in beautiful condition.

And as far as being too far removed goes -- well, different strokes, I suppose.